On Thursday, December 15, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant to the Administrator for Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs William Hammink will deliver keynote remarks at the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce's (AACC) Business Matchmaking Conference. Hammink will discuss how USAID has worked with the Afghan Government and private sector to support economic growth in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will host an event at the White House to launch the Report of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Peer Review of the United States.

The United States announced today nearly $92 million in additional humanitarian assistance to people affected by the ongoing conflict and severe food insecurity in Nigeria and throughout the Lake Chad Basin region.

On Wednesday, Dec. 7, the U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Gayle Smith will speak at the Center for Global Development about how USAID is better positioned today than ever before to meet the challenges facing global development and how it is working to deliver transformative impact around the world. Following her remarks, she will join CGD President Nancy Birdsall for a conversation about global development.

Every year on December 1st, we celebrate the tremendous progress the world has made in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS, and honor those affected by this disease with a renewed commitment to achieve an AIDS-free generation. Through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United States is leading the response to the global AIDS pandemic - in partnership with countries, communities, and a diverse coalition of leaders, advocates, NGOs, scientists, and businesses.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury will co-host the second annual Financial Inclusion Forum onThursday, December 1, 2016 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. The forum will convene leaders from government, international organizations, financial institutions, corporations and nonprofits to explore ways to increase access to safe and affordable financial products and services in the United States and abroad.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Associate Administrator Eric Postel will travel to Nairobi, Kenya from November 28 - December 2 to lead the U.S. delegation for the second High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC).

At the 22nd session of the UN Climate conference (COP 22), Power Africa Coordinator Andrew M. Herscowitz announced $4 million in new investments to eight companies that are revolutionizing household solar power across Africa through the Scaling Off-Grid Energy: Grand Challenge for Development. (link is external)The Enterprise Awards are expected to create up to 120,000 additional connections in off-grid communities.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today that it is dispatching a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to Nigeria to support Government of Nigeria-led efforts to reduce food insecurity in the Boko Haram-affected regions of the country's northeast.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Global Health Ariel Pablos-Mendez and Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives J. Mark Brinkmoeller will travel to Vatican City, November 7 - 12. They will join discussions on maternal and child health at the Leaving No One Behind conference, where Pablos-Mendez will deliver remarks on the importance of public private partnerships in maternal and newborn health.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will co-host the Higher Educations Solutions Network's TechCon 2016 in Cambridge, Massachusetts from November 10 - 12. TechCon 2016 will convene the students, faculty, and staff that make up USAID's Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN), as well as social entrepreneurs, private sector representatives, government officials, and development practitioners focused on highlighting cutting-edge solutions to critical development challenges.

Today, as the Paris Agreement on climate change takes effect, we are reminded that clean water, healthy farms and forests, and dependable rains are the basic resources that all people require to rise out of poverty and hunger toward stability and prosperity. The Agreement's rapid entry into force also reminds us that incredible global cooperation is possible when we focus on our shared humanity.

Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Coca-Cola Company and its Foundations announced a combined investment of up to $22 million in the next five year phase of their sector-leading Water and Development Alliance (WADA), providing safe water access and sanitation services to communities in developing nations in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

As we look back over the last 55 years, the world has come a long way. We have seen extreme poverty cut by more than half, the elimination of deadly and debilitating diseases, declining rates of mortality and malnutrition, more children enrolling in school, and more families with safe drinking water. USAID has been at the forefront of this progress, proving time and time again that, together, we can tackle tremendous global challenges.

USAID is turning practice into policy by instituting a new rule that explicitly prohibits contractors from discriminating against any foreign aid beneficiaries on the basis of any factor - including race, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced an additional $14 million in humanitarian assistance to further bolster the Government of Haiti's ongoing efforts to support communities affected by Hurricane Matthew. With this funding, USAID is providing nearly $28 million for Hurricane Matthew relief efforts in Haiti, Jamaica, and The Bahamas, making the United States the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance to date.

The U.S. Agency for International Development committed more than $2 million Wednesday to help cities finance sustainable infrastructure projects. These projects will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and withstand the impacts of climate change.

Organization Supported Through the Development Innovation Ventures Program

The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) U.S. Global Development Lab today announced $5 million to Living Goods, an organization building local networks of health entrepreneurs who provide their communities with quality, low-cost healthcare. Funded through the Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) program, the award will help expand Living Goods' community health service in Kenya. USAID Kenya will support Living Goods' expansion strategy, and help it leverage existing USAID health programming.